While most people’s thoughts (and blog posts) are about romance and roses today, my thoughts are firmly planted in the practical and somewhat mundane. Which is how to save money on my water bill. This is another “extra” to pay, as at the old place the water was a flat rate included in the rent. And since moving in here it’s like I’m being “20 euroed” to death, as several times a week I have to go and pick up something for the new casa az that ends up costing 20 euros. Things like energy-saving lightbulbs, a new showerhead, dish draining tray thingy, kitchen light fixture… the list goes on and on. Some things I’ll be reimbursed for by the landlords but others are just the expense of moving somewhere new and finding that new things are needed.
Then today I finally made it over to the water company office to change the name on the water bill (they wouldn’t let me do this over the phone for reasons too boring to recount) and I found out they are going to charge me 78.50€ (!!!) to do this. I mean seriously WTF?? Nog worked this out to about 800 euros an hour in terms of actual work involved. Gaaaah!!
And so saving money is on my mind. Nog also informed me that the most water-consuming activity is probably flushing the toilet, which got me thinking about, well, not flushing after every visit to the loo. Do any of you do this? It actually makes sense, like not running the water while brushing your teeth (which I stopped doing when I moved to Sevilla during a drought in 1993), but it also feels a bit unhygienic. I mean obviously this would only be after “number ones”, and perhaps we’d flush after about four visits. Does anyone know if this would actually be helpful in terms of cutting down on money spent and water consumption?
casa azahar 
Well, during droughts in California they used to say “if it’s yellow let it mellow.” That was primarily about absolute conservation of water though. It depends a lot on how large your flush volume is, whether the savings compensate for the ick factor.
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I have seen other discussion on this question…
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-07-20-ask-umbra-video-advice-saving-money-water-toilet
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Pee in the shower?? Ick.
Though it was good to be reminded about the water bottle in the cistern trick. I think I’ll try that one.
And don’t worry… I wasn’t going to implement the fewer-flushes thing while you’re living here. 🙂
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I have a restricted supply up at the caravan and have to ‘economise’. I don’t flush every time, except No.2s! And there’s a deep blue liquid gel you can get over here that you put into your cistern – it slow releases and disinfects/freshens as you flush, keeping any nastiness at bay. And then there’s the bath v shower debate!
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I use those gel thingys that stick onto the inside of the toilet bowl – does more or less the same thing without damaging up the cistern (or so I’m told).
A bath! Haven’t taken a bath in years. And according to my friend Susan (and others) I take the fastest showers in the universe. Well, I just don’t see much reason to hang around in there once I’m clean…
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Family of for here, plus we often have mates of my sons’ over here, so flushing each time.
However, you can regulate how much you flush, and it doesn’t need the full cistern content each time.
You can save a lot of water if you wait with the laundry until you can actually make the washing machine full.
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In a lot of desert type situations where water is hard to come by, not flushing every time is common. A little more common are low-flow toilets. Something tells me you don’t want to spend a small fortune saving money, however.
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Hi amkuska, and welcome! You’re right about that last bit. In any case, I suppose I shouldn’t get too worked up about this until I get my first water bill.
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Isn’t it interesting how water companies charge you for using water and then charge you a lot more for recycling it? And they get it for free! (I suppose they invested in all those lead pipes and sewers, so…hang on I thought the taxpayers did that?)
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I’m still appalled they are charging me almost 80 euros just to change the details on the invoice. That’s just crazy.
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Water usage is a hot topic here in Australia for obvious reasons, and since I’ve moved here I no longer run the tap when I brush my teeth or wash up, and I put a full water bottle in the cistern of my toilet so that when it flushes it is not using as much water in each, plus I do ‘let it mellow if its yellow’. And I keep a bucket in the shower that I use to water my plants. It has all become habit, and has certainly saved me money as well as being better for this water-starved continent.
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When I first came here in 1993 it was during a very serious drought and there were water restrictions. In the city we weren’t allowed to use any water between midnight and 6am, which wasn’t that much of a hardship – the surrounding villages were hit much harder – and it really made me think about my personal water consumption. I guess since then I’ve become a bit less conscious of it, though I did develop a few good water habits. Time for a few more…
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Apparently putting a brick in the cistern saves water…..
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